EA Worldview’s Ukraine Up-date- hop over to Scott’s amazing hourly Ukraine up-date page. I’ll fill in with some bits and bobs.
This video is circulating to raise awareness for a Special Tribunal on Russian Aggression: the clip features incitement for violence on behalf of Russian propagandists. For more clips on the Russian incitement of genocide, please go to Julia Davis’s YouTube channel. She is carefully documenting all instances.
Russian forces launched an overnight missile strike on Ukraine’s southernOdesa oblast, damaging port infrastructure, the regional governor said early on Saturday. Four people were wounded in the strike, which hit a boarding house and a portside grain facility, said Oleh Kiper. Debris from the rockets and the blast wave caused a fire in the garage cooperative and damaged several apartment buildings.
A woman was killed and two more people were injured during the Russian shelling of Zaporizhzhia Oblast on 7 October reported the State Emergency Service of Ukraine; Zaporizhzhia Оblast Military Administration. Russian used cluster-bombs against the civilian population.
Russian missile attack in Odesa
Ukraine Defence: Every family in Hroza affected by the Russian missile attack
The Panteleev family: 4 people killed. A mother, father, grandmother and grandfather. The Kozyr family (in the photo): Five members were killed - Denys and his wife Nina , his grandfather, grandmother, and mother-in-law. At the beginning of the war, Denys and his father, Andriy, went to defend Ukraine. In the summer of 2022, Andriy died.
On Thursday, residents of the village of Hroza had gathered for his reburial when a russian ballistic missile hit the cafe where a post-funeral reception was underway. 50 people died on the spot; two more died later from their injuries. In total, this amounted to 1/6 of the population of Hroza. If this is not genocide, then what is?
Russian forces shelled two communities in the Sumy oblast overnight, the Sumy regional military administration said on Telegraph. The shelling in the Krasnopillia community came from fired mortars and while the shelling in the Druzhbacommunity was carried out by an anti-aircraft missile system.
Combat Situation Update
ISW: Ukraine continues counteroffensive operations near Bakhmut, advances in western Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
Ukrainian military sources noted that Kyiv forces continued successful offensive actions some eight kilometers southeast of Bakhmut, near Andriivka, according to the Institute for the Study of War.
ISW: Russian forces may be expanding military training infrastructure in occupied eastern Ukraine as part of ongoing efforts to increase the training and mobilization capacity of the Russian military.
Russian forces appear to have recently conducted a regimental rotation in the Orikhiv area in western Zaporizhzhia, demonstrating an ability to sustain their defenses in this critical sector of the frontline.
Lieutenant General Serhii Naiev,commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, has recalled that Belarus has begun "combat readiness inspections" of its armed forces and that Ukraine is increasing the vigilance of its military.
Meanwhile in Russia
Russia will start delivering its grain to African countries within a month to six weeks, the Interfax news agency cited agriculture minister Dmitry Patrushev as saying on Friday: “We are now finalising all the documents. I think that within a month - or a month and a half - they will start.”
On Oct 7, seventeen years ago, opposition journalist and publicist Anna Politkovskaya was gunned down in Moscow. She had reported on the Chechen war and the atrocities there. She had warned repeatedly about who Putin was and where his regime was taking Russia. Her courage won't be forgotten.
Currently, there are 266 thousand people in Russian penal colonies, said Deputy Minister of Justice Vsevolod Vukolov. Compared to last year, the number of prisoners decreased by 54,000, which became a historical record, writes Mediazona.
More on train traffic dramatically increasing between Russia and North Korea, from Agence France-Presse: High-resolution satellite imagery revealed at least 70 freight cars at North Korea’s border Tumangang Rail Facility, a number described as “unprecedented” even when compared to pre-Covid levels, said Washington-based analysts Beyond Parallel. The uptick in activity “likely indicates North Korea’s supply of arms and munitions to Russia”, the report said, while adding that tarps covering the shipping containers made it impossible to “conclusively identify” their contents.
Putin’s birthday celebrations via SOTA: In Yekaterinburg, United Russia members congratulated Putin on his birthday.
The Young Guard action was announced by the head of the local branch of the party, Daniil Tupitsa. A car rally was held in the city with the “Putin Team” banner and the Russian tricolor; those present also unfurled a giant flag to the songs of the Shaman and assembled a portrait of Vladimir Putin from sheets of paper, which was held on their heads.
And at the local polytechnic, volunteers from the Ural SamoZVets offered those who wanted to learn how to weave camouflage nets.
Behind the Lines
As the National Resistance Center reported, the strengthening of administrative and police conditions for fighting against the Ukrainian underground continues in occupied Crimea.
"The enemy is concerned about the activity and increased effectiveness of the Resistance Movement in Crimea, as a result of which it has strengthened the counter-intelligence regime, including for the purpose of identifying and combating the Ukrainian underground."
In occupied Nova Kakhovka, the car of the secretary of the local branch of United Russia was reportedly blown up. According to Igor Kastsyukevich, deputy from the party, the secretary is hospitalized and in serious condition.
Italy isn’t alone.
Residents of the occupied part of the Zaporizhzhia region will no longer receive medical care using a Ukrainian passport from 2024, said the Russian-appointed head of the region, Yevgeny Balitsky, on Rossiya-24.
According to the governor, in this way the authorities hope to force people to obtain Russian citizenship as soon as possible. “After the New Year we will take more stringent measures, because only citizens of the Russian Federation will live on our territory. <...> If before the New Year a person still receives medical coverage using a Ukrainian passport, then after the New Year he will not receive it,” Balitsky warned.
Kadyrov’s 15-year-old son beats inmate, presented with state award. Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov awarded his son, 15-year-old Adam Kadyrov, with the highest regional award after the minor beat an inmate accused by Russian authorities of supporting Ukraine.
Slovakia's interim government has said it has halted military aid to Ukraine as political parties opposed to such support negotiate a coalition after last weekend's election.
Allied Support
President Bidenon Friday said it is possible that he will meet with China’s president, Xi Jinping, next month in San Francisco but nothing has been set up yet, according to Reuters.
Washington has provided over $40 billion to supply Kyiv with dozens of tanks, thousands of rockets and millions of rounds of ammunition that Ukraine has used to defend itself since Russia invaded in February 2022.
Beijing, meanwhile, has maintained close economic and diplomatic ties with Russia since the invasion, and has accused US-led Western forces of seeking to prolong the war by providing arms and support to Ukraine.
The US commerce department has added 42 Chinese companies to a government export control list over support for Moscow’s military and defence industrial base, Reuters reports.
Another seven entities from Finland, Germany, India, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom were also added to the trade export control list.
The circuits include microelectronics that Russia uses for precision guidance systems in missiles and drones launched against civilian targets in Ukraine, the commerce department said in a statement.
The US is offering Poland to transfer part of its existing Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems to Ukraine in exchange for Washington supplying Poland with Israeli-made Iron Dome air defense systems, Politico writes.
Italian President Sergio Mattarella: "If Ukraine were to fall we would see a shift in aggression towards other countries bordering Russia and this - as happened between 1938 and 1939 - would lead to a general and devastating conflict." The Italian president made a public speech about the need to support Ukraine and the repercussions if we were not to continue. It was an important speech to make, outlining Italian national interests as an ally to Ukraine and partner to NATO and the United States in the face of an onslaught on Russian information warfare in Italy.
Around the World
Military operation "Al-Aqsa Flood"—Hamas attacks Isreal with 3,000 missiles. Palestinian Hamas claimed responsibility for the rocket attacks that have hit cities in Israel. At least 70 people have died and more than 1,000 injured in the attacks, and the Hamas forces have taken tens of Isreali hostages.
Israel reports infiltrations from, announces state of war. Israel was caught by surprise, and most analysts have said that it was an intelligence failure. The Israeli government has called in the reserves and have set up roadblocks on roads leading to the Gaza Strip. A reminder that Hamas is funded by the Iranian government and are terrorists.
A state of emergency has been declared in Israel throughout the country. The Israeli police said that 200-300 Hamas militants have infiltrated the country, and dozens more are hiding on Israeli territory.
CNN: The Israeli IDF international spokesmen said that there were 22 points of contact where Israeli Special Forces were dispatched to respond to the Hamas attack. The Israeli forces are covering three theatres: the south, north at the border with Lebanon, and the West Bank. He added that there were Israeli hostages in two locations in civilian communities. When asked if Isreal would start a ground offensive against Hamas and would Isreal make a declaration of war, he said that the Security Council was meeting to discuss this.
In the early evening, the Security Council has approved ground operations in the Gaza Strip.
A reminder that last year, high-ranking HAMAS delegations visited Moscow at least twice: in May and September, pledging to weaken the “Zionist tumor“ and the “whole West”. They met Lavrov and Kadyrov. Lavrov said at the time:
"There was a poorly camouflaged attempt to take advantage of the situation in Ukraine to distract the international community’s attention from one of the oldest unsettled conflicts – the Palestinian-Israeli one"
Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Galant said that Hamas made a serious mistake by launching a surprise rocket attack on Israel and entering towns on the border with the Gaza Strip. Hamas has declared war on Israel:
“This morning Hamas made a serious mistake and started a war against the State of Israel. IDF soldiers fight the enemy at all infiltration points. The State of Israel will win this war,” Gallant told reporters.
Hamas gunmen are still wreaking havoc in southern Israeli communities;
hostages have been taken, reports suggesting as many as 35 Israelis;
Hamas have also paraded what appears to be the body of a dead Israeli woman;
Israel's second largest power plant, Rutenberg Power Station, came under rocket fire on the Mediterranean coast in Ashkelon, Israel;
A bulldozer tore down fences on the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip.
Ghazi Hamad, Hamas spokesperson and former deputy foreign minister for the government in Gaza, has told Al Jazeera that the Palestinian operation is also a message to Arab countries who have been normalising relations with Israel.
“I think it is [shameful] for them. I ask all Arab countries to disconnect and cut relationships with Israel, because it is not a state which believes in peace, or coexistence, or believes in being a good neighbour,” Hamad said.
“It is an enemy state and we have to stop them.”
In a speech on Saturday, Hamas’s leader Ismail Haniyeh told Arab countries that Israel cannot provide them with any protection, Reuters reports.
Haniyeh added that armed Palestinian factions plan to extend Gaza’s ongoing fight into the West Bank and Jerusalem, saying, “The battle moved into the heart of the ‘zionist entity.”
Iran supports the military operation "Al-Aqsa Flood" in Israel, said Gen. Rahim Safavi, an adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Additional Hamas fighters and/or affiliated Palestinian soldiers are now moving forward through the gaps made in the border in the direction of Israel.
Condemnation from the world’s leaders have poured in: European leaders—Von der Leyen, Borrell, Michel, as well as Sandu, Mattarella, president Zelenskyy, Sunak and Mitsotakis, Erdogan.
The US president, Joe Biden, said he told Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, that his country was ready to offer “all appropriate means of support“ after Palestinian Islamist group Hamas launched an attack on Israel.
“I made clear to prime minister Netanyahu that we stand ready to offer all appropriate means of support to the government and people of Israel,” Biden said in a statement.
“Israel has a right to defend itself and its people. The United States warns against any other party hostile to Israel seeking advantage in this situation,” he added.
Medvedev issued a statement blaming the United States for the attacks by Hamas against Israel and calling for a civil war in the United States:
The outbreak of hostilities between Hamas and Israel on the 50th anniversary of the start of the Doomsday War is an event that was to be expected. This is what Washington and its allies should have been doing. The conflict between Israel and Palestine has been going on for decades. And the U.S. is a key player there.
But instead of actively working on the Palestinian-Israeli settlement, these assholes have crawled into our midst and are helping neo-Nazis in every possible way, pitting two close nations against each other.
What can stop America's manic passion to ignite conflicts everywhere on the planet?
Apparently, only a civil war on US soil.
Russian-backed Assad regime attacks against Syria in the past few days have increased dramatically. The White Helmets state:
“Regime forces continue their attacks on Syrian civilians for the fourth day, targeting residential neighborhoods and a market in the city of Idlib, this morning, Saturday, October 7, killing and wounding civilians.”
The EU’s 27 leaders have adopted a Granada statement – but a planned section on migration has been left out, a senior EU diplomat confirmed. European Council president, Charles Michel, has issued a separate statement in his own name covering migration. The move comes after Poland and Hungary raised concerns about migration policy and declined to sign on to the pre-negotiated document.
Christiane Amanpour sits down to talk with Hilary Clinton on the toxic political climate in the US:
Chatham House with Rory Stewart: A discussion on populism
The age of populism began in 2015. Starting with the election of Narendra Modi in India, Brexit in the UK, Trump in the US and Bolsonaro in Brazil all followed as part of a new form of politics, pitching an imagined ‘people’ against an ‘elite’ and exploiting the new potential of social media and growing resentment to inflame polarization. Politics became even more vicious and divisive while the pragmatic centre ground disappeared.
Across the world, the number of democracies began to shrink, the number of violent conflicts and refugees increased, as did civilian deaths in conflict. And, in 2022, the Russian invasion of Ukraine brought a new authoritarian inflection to the age of populism.
Key questions discussed during this event include: How do we respond to these threats to democracy? What hope is there for the centre ground? What part can hope, reality and truth play in the future of democratic politics and the global order?
Programming note…
Kyiv Independent-Episode #28 is dedicated to Elon Musk and his stained reputation in Ukraine. Anastasiia is joined by the Kyiv Independent's TikTok producer Masha Lavrova.
Hello Monique... Was trying to access Evelyn Farkas interview and was blocked as non subscriber? Don’t recall that in past ? I’m listening to your interviews all over. I’m so proud of what you all are doing. Grateful
Thank you. I’m so sorry about musk. I’m a subscriber to you but not on Twitter.
Hello Monique... Was trying to access Evelyn Farkas interview and was blocked as non subscriber? Don’t recall that in past ? I’m listening to your interviews all over. I’m so proud of what you all are doing. Grateful